Grants to Needy Countries? A Study of Aid Composition between 1975 and 2005

This article discusses whether the poorest and most indebted countries receive aid in the form of grants rather than loans, by studying bilateral aid flows to low‐ and middle‐income countries between 1975 and 2005. The empirical analysis finds no evidence that more indebted countries receive a higher grant component, but it does show that poorer countries receive a significantly higher grant component, although the size of the effect is quite limited.     

What is a family? Constructions of family and parenting after a custody transfer from birth parents to foster parents

The subject of stability for children in long‐term foster care is an emerging field within social work with vulnerable children. In Sweden, the adoption of foster children is not a common occurrence. Instead, when a child has been placed in foster care for 3 years, the local social welfare committee will consider whether the custody of the child should be transferred to the foster parents regardless of the circumstances of the birth parents, in order to secure stability and a sense of family belonging. Consequently, custody transfers raise questions such as “who is family?” and “who is a parent?” This qualitative interview study with custodians and young people who have experienced custody transfer highlights that who counts as family and as a parent is ambiguous. This article draws attention to how negotiations about family and parenthood revolve around biological, emotional, and relational dimensions. Furthermore, we show that stability for children in care has to be understood in terms of processes over time and not as the result of a single decision of custody transfer. Consequently, social workers need to take several aspects into account when they assess family belonging and stability for children in foster care.     

The Transformation of Gendered Work: Dualistic Stereotypes and Paradoxical Reality

The article focuses on the paradoxes of gender stereotypes: how they need to be understood in order to make sense of the situation and how at the same time and for the same reason they need to be dissolved. Three stories derived from an ethnographic study of a Swedish housing company provide insights into both the absurdity and necessity of gender stereotypes. The process of men entering traditionally female work was neither the same nor the reverse process as women entering male arenas. Totally different patterns emerged when men entered traditionally female work arenas from when women entered traditionally male ones. Also, in this transformation process, traditional dualistic gender stereotypes were present and absent, being the very ground and dissolved at the same time. The stories challenge traditional dichotomous views of gender; to highlight this, three genders are introduced. Through this narrative device of creating three genders, a paradoxical process of resistance to change and real change becomes clearer. This article regards gender stereotypes as an invisible interpretive screen enabling theoretical sense-making; such a screen is both real and not real, functioning as resistance to change and allowing change to occur at the same time. Through this paradoxical complexity, the stories become as easy to understand as they actually are from a more practical, ethnographic perspective.     

Out-of-home care among immigrant children in Sweden: a national cohort study

We used data from several national registers for ten entire birth cohorts ( n  > 1 million) to examine the representation of first generation immigrant children among first time entries into out-of-home care (foster or residential care) at ages 7–12 and 13–17. Logistic regression models were used to adjust results for socioeconomic background factors. Immigrant children were categorised in six groups relating to birth country/continent. Compared with Swedish-born peers, immigrant children from non-European countries had between two- and three-fold sex and birth-year adjusted odds for being placed in care for the first time at ages 7–12. After adjustments for five socioeconomic background variables, none of these overrisks remained. Instead there was a tendency towards immigrant background being associated with reduced risks, statistically significant for immigrant children born in non-Nordic European countries. Immigrant children had between two- and six-fold age and birth-year adjusted odds for entering care for the first time during adolescence. After adjusting the results for socioeconomic background, only immigrant children born in Sub-Saharan Africa or in Asia outside the Middle East had significant overrisks for care entries at ages 13–17 (odds ratio = 1.5).     

Intercultural Learning in a Multicultural Society

In this contribution the author describes intercultural education as education for higher order skills, that go beyond traditional teaching methods. Intercultural education emphasises interactive skills, it strengthens the self‐esteem of children by giving them a solid foundation to encounter the unknown.     

Job characteristics as predictors of ill-health and sickness absenteeism in different occupational types--a multigroup structural equation modelling approach

The objective of the present study was to test for multigroup invariance in measurement models and structural models between job characteristics, psychosocial intervening variables, health outcomes and sickness absenteeism. Four types of occupation were represented in the study: blue-collar workers ( n = 241), white-collar workers ( n = 209), elderly-care workers ( n = 338) and child-care workers ( n = 336). A first-order, six-factor multigroup confirmatory factor analysis model (i.e. measurement model) composed of two perceived job characteristics ( job autonomy and skill discretion), appraised workload, job satisfaction, stress-related ill-health and sickness absenteeism provided a good model fit. Invariance tests showed that the six-factor model fits well for all occupations. A partially recursive mediated multigroup structural model showed both similarities and differences across occupations as regards the relationships between independent latent variables ( job autonomy, skill discretion), intervening latent variables (appraised workload, job satisfaction) and dependent latent variables (stressrelated ill-health, sickness absenteeism). By comparing a generic model with occupation-specific models across occupations, this study showed that occupation-specific models were more plausible. The results indicate that it is important to examine different occupational contexts in detail to better understand how certain psychosocial factors at work influence strain in different occupations. Since job characteristics can potentially be amended, the findings have important implications for the differentiation of prevention and intervention in different occupations.     

Informal Caregiving for Elders in Sweden: An Analysis of Current Policy Developments

The purpose of this study was to conduct a systematic review of the literature related to state policies concerning older drivers and to draw policy conclusions about which policies appear to work to reduce older driver crashes and to identify areas needed for further research. Specific policies examined in this paper concern medical reporting and medical review, license renewal processes, and driver testing. A study was included in the systematic review if it met the following criteria: published in English between 1991and January 2013; included data on human subjects aged 65 and older residing in the United States; included information on at least one policy related to older drivers; and had a transportation-related outcome variable (e.g., crash, fatality, renewal). A total of 29 studies met inclusion criteria. Twenty-two studies investigated license renewal and seven articles examined medical reporting. In-person license renewal requirements were associated with reduced risk for fatal crashes. Restricted licenses were associated with reduced number of miles driven per week. More intensive renewal requirements and being the subject of a medical report to the licensing authority was associated with delicensure. Given the importance of driving to mobility, quality of life, and public safety, more research is needed.     

Earnings Inequality and the Gender Gap: An Accounting Exercise for Sweden 1975–1991

Using the Household Income Survey, the earnings of full time, full year workers in Sweden are studied. Earnings inequality as well as the gender earnings gap were found to decrease up to the beginning of the 1980s, when both started to increase. The following questions are also addressed: How much has the changed earnigns gap contributed to changes in earnings inequality? How much should earnings inequality decrease in the case of men and women having the same mean income while keeping inequality within each gender category constant?     

Saving Lives in the Present Versus Saving Lives in the Future—Is There a Framing Effect?

This study considers how to compare programs which are designed to save lives. "To estimate the discount rate for lives saved in the future a number of studies have been carried out on the trade-off between saving lives now and in the future. A telephone survey is administered to about 1,700 individuals [in Sweden] to test if the framing of the question affects the estimated trade-off. In one sample the question is framed as saving 100 lives today versus saving x future lives and in one sample the question is framed as saving 100 future lives versus saving y lives today. The result shows that the framing has a major impact on the trade-off."